Great little trading company play kitchen Post Reply

[2boysmum]

Hello all - random question. Has anyone ever bought a great little trading company toy kitchen? We just did and I had a handy man here fixing something else and lasted him if he could put it together while he was here as I am
Rubbish at DIY. Anyway, it ended up taking him nearly 4 hours (I didn't realise this till too late as babysitter was here) and I have been charged a fortune! More than the kitchen itself!! Just wondering if they are actually difficult to construct or if I've been fleeced....
Thoughts appreciated!

[dancing_queen59]

We bought one last year and it took ages infact a lot of the things at GLTC seem to take ages. I would say on average 1.5 hours and my husband is pretty good with a screwdriver.

[2boysmum]

Ok thanks - good to know. Although 1.5 hrs is not 4 hours! Maybe my expectations of a handyman are too high...

[Roo]

Oh dear I've just bought the carnaby kitchen from glc for my little boy! Had better set aside a few hours on Christmas Eve!!

[dudette]

I bought one some years back - can't remember where from but it was plastic. Anyway, it took me a good four hours to assemble.

[Mrs Contractor Mum]

Last Christmas we got a kidkraft kitchen and I paid 3 hours for a handy man. After calls complaining not all the pieces were there (they were) the kitchen was not even half built so job then went to hubby who is generally good with a drill. Another 3 hours later it was still not finished and I came home to a stressed man who claimed the pieces were cut wrong and bits were missing. I told him to leave the room and leave me with the kitchen. 20 minutes later it was fixed!
Sometimes they just need to follow the instructions...

[supergirl]

I wont comment on the fact that you need a handyman building something so simple.

But i will say that you ve been completely ripped off. We have a kidkraft majestic mansion doll house which is huge and it took my husband 2.5 hrs. We have a play kitchen from GLTC from kidkraft which took me under 1hr.

So waste of money if you ask me to ask a handyman to do it for you!

[2boysmum]

Many thanks for not commenting on the fact that I need a handyman to do something so simple.

Thank you everyone esle for your helpful replies!

[Deb]

I've just looked up from reading this post to ask my husband how long it took him to put together out GLTC kitchen and without hesitating he said '4 hours'.

I asked why he thought it took so long and he said 'so many pieces and so many small screws, around 100 screws'

Not sure which one you got but ours is the medium sized one with the little window, microwave and dish rack. I certainly do remember being flabbergasted at the number of small bits of wood to be assembled and thinking 'golly that's not going to be a quick job, perhaps 8pm on Christmas Eve wasn't the best time to start it!

[2boysmum]

Thanks so much - this is really good to know - we got the red one - it's open ended. I naively thought it wouldn't take him very long, and neither of us have even an hour spare to do it unless it's in the middle of the night so useful to know. I've called them to talk about it and they seem to be investigating it reasonably....

[sarahcj]

We bought one a couple of years ago and it took me and our nanny at least 4 hours to make - so many screws, parts etc...thank heavens didn't leave it to DH or DS2 wouldn't have had his Christmas present.....Great when put together though and two years later still really sturdy and looks practically new, both my little ones play with it loads.

[bumpontheway]

Hello

Just to add we also have one and we spent a very long christmas eve putting it all together a couple of years ago. As other posters have said there are SOOOOO many pieces to it.

However I would think that if he was a handyman he should have been quicker although it won't be an item he regularly puts together.

Beth

[SoConfused!]

It really isn't simple so please ignore the comment about you needing a handyman to do this.

I spent 4 hours building this kitchen last Christmas ... and I would not hesitate to get a handyman to do it for me if I ever had to do it again !!!

But yes I agree with one of the previous posters - it probably should not take a handyman as long to build it as presumably they would be better than me at doing something like this !

[Birdie40]

Shouldn't laugh but I imagine it would take my husband about 14 hours - a bottle of wine and much swearing - he's totally rubbish at DIY - its obviously not an inherited gene !
So on that subject - what is the going rate for a handyman ? I have lots of little jobs that are gradually piling up.

Thanks

[hereloro]

We bought the same one, and it wasn't straightforward. So ignore the poster commenting on needing a handyman. How ridiculously pious and unhelpful.

My partner is very handy, and it still took him two hours. Not sure four hours was necessary, and frankly, complaining about missing parts sounds like something my father (who is NOT handy) would do. Afraid you might have been ripped off just a bit...

But the good news is YOU didn't have to do it!!